A vehicle such as a motorcycle or bicycle includes a seat on which a rider is seated and at least one pair of foot supports located at a lower portion of the vehicle relative to the seat. The foot supports may be the foot pegs of a motorcycle or the pedals of a bicycle.
A motorcycle typically has foot-operated controls in close proximity to the foot pegs such as a brake and a gearshift. While in forward motion and in normal riding, the rider's feet typically rest upon the foot pegs. This is typically quite acceptable for riding on paved and/or smooth roads.
However, if the rider encounters very rough terrain or jumps, the shaking may cause the rider's feet to lose contact with the foot peg. The loss of contact may be very dangerous. Experienced riders compensate for this by gripping the sides of the seat with their knees and/or thighs and hanging on to the handlebars. An example of such an experienced rider is a Motocross competitor who routinely rides over very rough terrain and jumps.
Yet riding this way does not maintain an ideal amount of control for a Motocross competition. One solution proposed is described in patent application 2008/0179859 by Boehmke et al. filed on Jan. 27, 2007. Boehmke describes a mechanism for clipping the rider's boot to the foot peg. While offering some improvement, issues remain such as the inconvenience of having to manually eject the boot from the restraint and the potential for crashes with the boot still clipped. What is needed is a new solution that is more convenient to the rider and can be quickly engaged and disengaged.